2016 Canberra Raiders season

2016 Canberra Raiders season
2016 Canberra Raiders season
NRL Rank	2nd
Play-off result	Preliminary Finals
2016 record	Wins: 17; draws: 1; losses: 6
Points scored	For: 688; against: 456
Team information
CEO	Don Furner Jr.
Coach	Ricky Stuart
Captain	Jarrod Croker ;
Stadium	GIO Stadium - 25,011
Avg. attendance	12,182 (regular season); 13,806 (including finals)
High attendance	18,825 vs. Eels on 21 August (regular season); 25,592 vs. Sharks on 10 September (including finals)
Top scorers
Tries	Jordan Rapana (22)
Goals	Jarrod Croker (112)
Points	Jarrod Croker (296)

Last updated February 25, 2025

The 2016 Canberra Raiders season is the 35th in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained by Jarrod Croker, the Raiders are currently competing in the NRL's 2016 Telstra Premiership. They also competed in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines pre-season tournament.

Squad

Canberra Raiders
NRL Squad 2015								Coaching staff
Blake Austin – FE, HB Kurt Baptiste – HK Mitchell Barnett – SR Luke Bateman – LK Shannon Boyd – PR Adam Clydsdale – HK Jarrod Croker (c) – CE Lachlan Croker – FE, HB Shaun Fensom – LK Josh Hodgson – HK Jarrad Kennedy – SR, CE		Brenko Lee – CE, WG Edrick Lee – WG, CE Joseph Leilua – CE, WG Jeff Lima – PR Frank-Paul Nu'uausala – PR, LK, SR Kato Ottio – CE, WG Tevita Pangai Junior – PR, SR Josh Papalii – SR, LK Junior Paulo – PR Clay Priest – LK, PR Jordan Rapana – WG, FB, CE		Zac Santo – FB, WG Aidan Sezer – HB, FE Iosia Soliola – SR, CE, LK Joseph Tapine – SR Paul Vaughan – PR, SR, LK Sisa Waqa – WG, CE Elliott Whitehead – SR Jack Wighton – FB, CE, FE Sam Williams – HB, FE				Head coach Ricky Stuart Assistant coaches Dean Pay Mick Crawley Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 18 November 2015 Source(s): Raiders 2016 Squad

Player transfers

A † denotes that the transfer occurred during the 2016 season.

Gains
Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Adam Clydsdale	Newcastle Knights	2017	^[1]
Jeff Lima	Catalans Dragons (Super League)	2017	^[2]
Kato Ottio	PNG Hunters (QLD Cup)	2017	^[3]
Junior Paulo†	Parramatta Eels	2018
Zac Santo	North Queensland Cowboys	2016	^[4]
Aidan Sezer	Gold Coast Titans	2018	^[5]
Joseph Tapine†	Newcastle Knights	2020	^[6]
Elliott Whitehead	Catalans Dragons (Super League)	2017	^[7]

Losses
Player	Signed To	Until End of	Notes
Mitch Cornish	Parramatta Eels	2016	^[8]
Joel Edwards	Wests Tigers	2017	^[9]
Jeremy Hawkins	Melbourne Storm	2017	^[10]
Josh McCrone	St. George Illawarra Dragons	2016	^[11]
Mark Nicholls	Melbourne Storm	2016	^[12]
Frank-Paul Nu'uausala†	Wigan Warriors (Super League)	2019	^[13]
Kyle O'Donnell	Retirement	-
Tevita Pangai Junior†	Brisbane Broncos	2018	^[14]
David Shillington	Gold Coast Titans	2017	^[15]
Sisa Waqa†	FC Grenoble (Top 14 - rugby union)		^[16]

Fixtures

NRL Auckland Nines

The NRL Auckland Nines is a pre-season rugby league nines competition featuring all 16 NRL clubs. The 2016 competition was played over two days on 6 February and 7 February at Eden Park. The Raiders feature in the Piha pool and played the Dragons, Sharks and Titans.

Regular season

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 5 March	Round 1	Penrith Panthers	GIO Stadium	30 - 22	Austin, Fensom, E Lee, Sezer (2)	J Croker (5/7)	11,297
Saturday, 12 March	Round 2	Sydney Roosters	GIO Stadium	21 - 20	J Croker, Papalii (2), Soliola	J Croker (2/4), Williams (1 FG)	12,423
Saturday, 19 March	Round 3	Newcastle Knights	Hunter Stadium	24 - 24	B Lee, Papalii, Rapana, Soliola	J Croker (4/6)	13,745
Saturday, 26 March	Round 4	Gold Coast Titans	GIO Stadium	20 - 24	J Croker, E Lee, Whitehead	J Croker (4/4)	11,039
Monday, 4 April	Round 5	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Belmore Sports Ground	8 - 22	J Croker (2), Wighton	J Croker (5/5)	13,463
Saturday, 9 April	Round 6	Parramatta Eels	Pirtek Stadium	26 - 6	Austin	J Croker (1/1)	12,947
Sunday, 17 April	Round 7	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	GIO Stadium	16 - 40	Baptiste, Rapana, Sezer	J Croker (2/3)	12,890
Saturday, 23 April	Round 8	Wests Tigers	GIO Stadium	60 - 6	Boyd, J Croker, Leilua (2), Rapana (4), Sezer, Vaughan, Whitehead	J Croker (8/11)	13,420
Saturday, 30 April	Round 9	Penrith Panthers	Carrington Park	19 - 18	Rapana (2), Vaughan	J Croker (2/3)	6,721
Thursday, 12 May	Round 10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	UOW Jubilee Oval	16 - 12	J Croker, Rapana	J Croker (2/2)	9,647
Saturday, 21 May	Round 11	New Zealand Warriors	Yarrow Stadium	12 - 38	Austin, J Croker, Hodgson, E Lee, Leilua, Papalii	J Croker (7/8)	12,833
Sunday, 29 May	Round 12	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	GIO Stadium	32 - 12	E Lee, Leilua, Rapana, Soliola, Tapine (2)	J Croker (4/6)	13,907
Friday, 3 June	Round 13	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	GIO Stadium	30 - 18	Hodgson, B Lee, Papalii, Whitehead, Wighton	J Croker (5/5)	9,157
Thursday, 9 June	Round 14	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	26 - 18	Austin, Baptiste (2)	J Croker (3/3)	25,021
	Round 15	Bye
Sunday, 26 June	Round 16	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium	22 - 30	J Croker (2), B Lee (2), Vaughan	J Croker (5/7)	12,645
Sunday, 3 July	Round 17	Newcastle Knights	GIO Stadium	29 - 25	Austin, J Croker (2), Rapana, Wighton	J Croker (3/3), Sezer (1/1), Austin (1 FG)	9,731
Monday, 11 June	Round 18	North Queensland Cowboys	GIO Stadium	26 - 12	Hodgson, Sezer, Wighton (2)	J Croker (5/6)	8,328
	Round 19	Bye
Saturday, 23 July	Round 20	New Zealand Warriors	GIO Stadium	26 - 22	J Croker (3), Leilua, Tapine	J Croker (3/4)	9,471
Sunday, 31 July	Round 21	South Sydney Rabbitohs	ANZ Stadium	4 - 54	Austin, J Croker, Hodgson, E Lee, Leilua, Rapana (2), Soliola, Whitehead (2), Wighton	J Croker (7/10)	10,076
Saturday, 6 August	Round 22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Southern Cross Group Stadium	14 - 30	Austin, Rapana (2), Wighton	J Croker (7/7)	15,133
Monday, 15 August	Round 23	Melbourne Storm	GIO Stadium	22 - 8	Boyd, Leilua (2)	J Croker (5/5)	15,707
Sunday, 21 August	Round 24	Parramatta Eels	GIO Stadium	28 - 18	J Croker, B Lee (4), Soliola	J Croker (2/6)	18,825
Saturday, 27 August	Round 25	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Brookvale Oval	30 - 44	E Lee, Leilua (2), Rapana (3), Vaughan, Wighton	J Croker (6/8)	11,137
Sunday, 4 September	Round 26	Wests Tigers	Leichhardt Oval	10 - 52	J Croker, Hodgson, Leilua, Papalii (2), Rapana (2), Tapine, Williams	J Croker (6/6), Sezer (2/3)	18,634
Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye

Finals


Qualifying and elimination finals			Semi-finals		Preliminary finals		Grand final



10 Sept, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

1	Melbourne	16

4	North Queensland	10	16 Sept, Willows Sports Complex

			North Queensland	26

9 Sept, Lang Park			Brisbane	20	24 Sept, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

5	Brisbane	44			Melbourne	14

8	Gold Coast	28			Canberra	12	2 Oct, Stadium Australia

							Melbourne	12

11 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium					23 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium		Cronulla	14

6	Penrith	28			Cronulla	32

7	Canterbury	12	17 Sept, Canberra Stadium		North Queensland	20

			Canberra	22

10 Sept, Canberra Stadium			Penrith	12

2	Canberra	14

3	Cronulla	16

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 10 September	Qualifying Final	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	GIO Stadium	14 - 16	Hodgson, Rapana	J Croker (3/3)	25,592
Saturday, 17 September	Semi Final	Penrith Panthers	GIO Stadium	22 - 12	Austin, J Croker, Rapana	J Croker (5/5)	21,498
Saturday, 24 September	Preliminary Final	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	12 - 14	Rapana, Whitehead	Sezer (2/2)	28,161
Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye

Ladder

2016 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	19	0	5	2	563	302	+261	42
2	Canberra Raiders	24	17	1	6	2	688	456	+232	39
3	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (P)	24	17	1	6	2	580	404	+176	39
4	North Queensland Cowboys	24	15	0	9	2	584	355	+229	34
5	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	2	554	434	+120	34
6	Penrith Panthers	24	14	0	10	2	563	463	+100	32
7	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	14	0	10	2	506	448	+58	32
8	Gold Coast Titans	24	11	1	12	2	508	497	+11	27
9	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	499	607	−108	26
10	New Zealand Warriors	24	10	0	14	2	513	601	−88	24
11	St. George Illawarra Dragons	24	10	0	14	2	341	538	−197	24
12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	9	0	15	2	473	549	−76	22
13	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	8	0	16	2	454	563	−109	20
14	Parramatta Eels	24	13	0	11	2	298	324	−26	18¹
15	Sydney Roosters	24	6	0	18	2	443	576	−133	16
16	Newcastle Knights	24	1	1	22	2	305	800	−495	7

¹ Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 for gross long-term salary cap breaches.

Player statistics

Highest try scorers

No.	Player	Games	Tries
1	Jordan Rapana	26	21
2	Jarrod Croker	26	17
3	Joseph Leilua	24	10
=4	Jack Wighton	25	8
=4	Blake Austin	19	8

Most goals

No.	Player	Games	Goals
1	Jarrod Croker	26	112
2	Aidan Sezer	23	3

Most field goals

No.	Player	Games	Field Goals
=1	Blake Austin	18	1
=1	Sam Williams	9	1

Highest point scorers

No.	Player	Games	Tries	Goals	Field Goals	Points
1	Jarrod Croker	26	18	112	0	296
2	Jordan Rapana	26	22	0	0	88
3	Joseph Leilua	24	10	0	0	40
4	Blake Austin	18	8	0	1	33
5	Jack Wighton	25	8	0	0	32

Representative

Domestic

Pos.	Player	Team	Call-up
WG	Edrick Lee	Indigenous All Stars	2016 All Stars Match
BE	Jack Wighton	Indigenous All Stars	2016 All Stars Match
CE	Jarrod Croker	World All Stars	2016 All Stars Match
FE	Aidan Sezer	NSW City	2016 City vs Country Origin
PR	Shannon Boyd	NSW Country	2016 City vs Country Origin
CE	Jarrod Croker	NSW Country	2016 City vs Country Origin
BE	Paul Vaughan	NSW Country	2016 City vs Country Origin
FB	Jack Wighton	NSW Country	2016 City vs Country Origin
BE	Josh Papalii	Queensland	2016 State of Origin

International

Pos.	Player	Team	Call-up
SR	Josh Papalii	Australia	2016 Anzac Test
CE	Sisa Waqa	Fiji	2016 Melanesian Cup
BE	Kurt Baptiste	Papua New Guinea	2016 Melanesian Cup
CE	Kato Ottio	Papua New Guinea	2016 Melanesian Cup

Honours

The Raiders' club awards were announced during their awards night on 19 September.^[17]

Mal Meninga Medal: Josh Hodgson and Josh Papalii
NRL Coaches Award: Joseph Leilua and Jordan Rapana
NRL Rookie of the Year: Clay Priest
Fred Daly Clubman of the Year: Iosia Soliola
NYC Player of the Year: Jack Williams
NYC Coaches Award: Daniel Dole
Gordon McLucas Junior Representative Player of the Year: Nick Cotric
Geoff Caldwell Welfare and Education Award: Jack Hickson

References

↑ Tuxworth, Jon (6 October 2015). "Ricky Stuart's Raiders: Canberra signs Newcastle Knights hooker Adam Clydsdale". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ Tuxworth, Jon (24 October 2015). "Canberra Raiders ready to pounce on rival big men as salary cap squeeze sets in". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
↑ Gaskin, Lee (26 February 2016). "Canberra Raiders sign PNG international Kato Ottio for two years". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ Tuxworth, Jon (20 December 2015). "Canberra Raiders hope Zac Santo can emulate Jordan Rapana and seize his chance". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ Wilson, Chris (10 April 2015). "Canberra Raiders sign Aidan Sezer". Canberra Times.
↑ Tuxworth, Jon (23 February 2016). "Joseph Tapine heading to Canberra Raiders after standoff with Newcastle resolved". Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 September 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
↑ "Raiders Sign Elliott Whitehead". raiders.com.au. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
↑ "Eels sign trio for 2016". parraeels.com.au. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ "Wests Tigers sign Joel Edwards". weststigers.com.au. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
↑ Ryan, Nathan (3 November 2015). "Craig Bellamy's Storm signs Raiders centre, Bulldogs forward re-signs". Fox Sports. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ "Dragons Sign McCrone & Fai Fai Loa". dragons.com.au. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ "Storm announce four key signings". melbournestorm.com.au. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
↑ "Frank-Paul Nuuausala: Wigan Warriors sign New Zealand international". BBC. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ Tuxworth, Jon (28 February 2016). "Tevita Pangai thankful Canberra Raiders have found replacement in Joe Tapine". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ "Shillington to become a Titan". titans.com.au. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
↑ Tuxworth, Jon (14 March 2016). "Canberra Raiders release Sisa Waqa to French rugby". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
↑ Polkinghorne, David (19 September 2016). "Canberra Raiders duo Josh Hodgson and Josh Papalii tie for Mal Meninga medal". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.

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[1] Tuxworth, Jon (6 October 2015). "Ricky Stuart's Raiders: Canberra signs Newcastle Knights hooker Adam Clydsdale". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[2] Tuxworth, Jon (24 October 2015). "Canberra Raiders ready to pounce on rival big men as salary cap squeeze sets in". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

[3] Gaskin, Lee (26 February 2016). "Canberra Raiders sign PNG international Kato Ottio for two years". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[4] Tuxworth, Jon (20 December 2015). "Canberra Raiders hope Zac Santo can emulate Jordan Rapana and seize his chance". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[5] Wilson, Chris (10 April 2015). "Canberra Raiders sign Aidan Sezer". Canberra Times.

[6] Tuxworth, Jon (23 February 2016). "Joseph Tapine heading to Canberra Raiders after standoff with Newcastle resolved". Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 September 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}

[7] "Raiders Sign Elliott Whitehead". raiders.com.au. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.

[8] "Eels sign trio for 2016". parraeels.com.au. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[9] "Wests Tigers sign Joel Edwards". weststigers.com.au. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.

[10] Ryan, Nathan (3 November 2015). "Craig Bellamy's Storm signs Raiders centre, Bulldogs forward re-signs". Fox Sports. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[11] "Dragons Sign McCrone & Fai Fai Loa". dragons.com.au. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[12] "Storm announce four key signings". melbournestorm.com.au. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.

[13] "Frank-Paul Nuuausala: Wigan Warriors sign New Zealand international". BBC. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[14] Tuxworth, Jon (28 February 2016). "Tevita Pangai thankful Canberra Raiders have found replacement in Joe Tapine". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[15] "Shillington to become a Titan". titans.com.au. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.

[16] Tuxworth, Jon (14 March 2016). "Canberra Raiders release Sisa Waqa to French rugby". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

[17] Polkinghorne, David (19 September 2016). "Canberra Raiders duo Josh Hodgson and Josh Papalii tie for Mal Meninga medal". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.

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v t e Canberra Raiders
Est. 1982 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Club	History Records Players (Representatives) Coaches
Home grounds	Seiffert Oval (1982-1989) Canberra Stadium (1990–present)
Culture	Mal Meninga Medal 1989 League Legends Cup
League	NSWRL ARL SL NRL
Premierships (3)	1989 1990 1994
Seasons (42)	1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Other competitions	Current NRL Nines New South Wales Cup Jersey Flegg Cup S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Tarsha Gale Cup Past Amco Cup NRL Under-20s
Affiliations	Current Canberra Raiders Cup Past Mount Pritchard Mounties Northern Raiders Souths Logan Magpies